Insecticide and fungicide and method of producing same



, Patented Jam-1 5, 193s I I a 1,988,175

UNITED, STATES PATENTQOF FICE B. 11:33:55.1. if; mm.. 1 I

Union Oil Company of California, Los Angcles, CaliL, a corporation of California No Drawing. Application November 9, 1931 Serial No. 574,048

8Claims. (01. 167-15) -invention relates to insecticides and fungiis particularly adapted forexterminating insects cides and is more particularly directed to insectisuch as the subterranean type of termites. cides applicableto the extermination of the sub- Another object of this invention resides in proterranean type of termites which infest wooden viding an insecticide which will not be readily structures and cause considerable damage or decarried away by rains nor leached out of the 5 struction. p ground by soil moisture. It is, therefore, another As is well known to entomologists, the subterobject to employ a toxic compound that is highly ranean type of termites, or white ants as they insoluble in water. V are sometimes called, depend upon dead wood and A further object of this invention is to provide moisture for their, existence. Consequently, in an insect eradicator that is specially adapted for 10 the inhabited parts of countries infested with spraying, such as an emulsion and, particularly, termites, the dwellings and other wooden strucan emulsion containing asphalt or other petroleum tures form the bulk of dead wood while the moisfraction. T ture is generally supplied by'the ground. These It is another object of this invention to provide subterranean termites built their nests in the an insecticide and fungicide and amethod of proground under the structure and erect tubes of ducing the same, said insecticide being composed dirt or other available material. from the surface of an emulsion of the asphalt type capable of holdof the ground to the wooden portions of the strucing in suspension a large amount of finely divided ture in order to be protected from light, and thus water insoluble poison distributed therein. free communication is possible from' the structure Another important object resides in producing 20 to their nests below the surface of the ground an asphaltic insecticidal emulsion of the slow where the moisture is available. In many inbreaking type whichisreadily adapted for admix stances, their detection results due to the presence ture with dirt or other aggregate without rapidly 'Of these tubes. In other cases, where cracks in breaking when mixed therewith. 1 the foundation from the ground to the wooden The above and other objects and advantages of parts are presented, the termites will use these this invention will be apparent to those skilled in instead of building tubes and, therefore, discovthe art from the detailed description included cry of their presence by means of the tubes is imhereafter. possible. These destructive insects usually sub- I have discovered that when a finely divided sist on the inner portions of the boards or wooden toxic compound which is substantially insoluble 30 supports, leaving the sameas fragile, hollowshells. in water, such as arsenic trioxide, is mixed with Consequently, detection is impossible until these a heavy petroleum fraction, particularly asphalt, insects have eaten their way through a considerand is thereafter emulsified with water; an insecable portion of the dwelling, which may eventuticide is produced which is particularly adapted ally fall due toto its weakened condition. for combating the subterranean type of termites. 35 In order to protect the wooden structures Thus with an emulsion of an insoluble poison and against attack of the'subterranean type of termite, asphalt, an insecticide is produced which when it has been common practice to spray the ground applied to the ground under the structure will not under the structure with a solution of sodium be readily leached out of the ground by soil mois-, 40 arsenite. This toxic compound is sufliciently efture nor washed away by rains and as a result its 40 fective, when first applied, to prevent the termites effect in preventing infestation by termites will from infesting the ground under the structure, be substantially permanent. Furthermore, it but due to its high solubility in water, the sodium may be applied to the ground adjacent to the viarsenite is gradually leached out of the groundby cinity of the trees, shrubs and other plants withsoil moisture, even though the ground is protected out fear of injury to their root systems, since it is 45 from rains. This leaching action not only renot readily. leached and carried through the duces the concentration of the solution to a point ground, as in the case of a soluble poison. where it is no longer effective, but it has thefur- I have further discovered that when a slow ther disadvantage of carrying the poison considbreaking emulsion is produced, it can be readily erable distances through the ground to the root mixed with the dirt under the wooden structure systems of trees, shrubs or other plants in the imwithout breaking for an appreciable time and thus mediate vicinity of the dwelling and thus destroythe toxic compound may be distributed evenly ing them. throughout the upper layer of the soil.

It is, therefore, an object of the present inven- In accordance with this invention, a slow breaktion to provide an insecticide and fungicide which ing emulsion may be produced by first mixing pre- 55 determined amounts of finely divided and insoluble toxic substances with heavy petroleum fractions or asphalt and subsequently emulsifying the mixture with water and an emulsifying agent, such as clay.

In the preparation of theemulsion, a steam blown and soft grade of paving asphalt may be used, although petroleum or any of its fractions may be employed. However, the use of asphalt is preferable since when applied to the earth under the structure in sufiicient quantities to serve as a binder for the top layer of earth, a coherent layer is formed through which the termitesor other pests would have great difiiculty in penetrating and, furthermore, the insecticide will not be washed away in case of heavy rains. An asphalt of to 110 penetration at 77 F. as measured according to the method outlined by the American Society of Testing Materials (D-36-' 26) and a softening point of 110 to 120 F. as measured by the American Society of Testing Materials Ball and Ring Method (D-5-25) has given satisfactory results.

The toxic substance to be added to the insecticidal emulsion should be substantially insoluble in water. A poison somewhat soluble in water may be used although as previously stated it will not be as efiectiveas a water insoluble poison. The compound which I have found to be most suitable for this purpose is arsenic trioxide, which is relatively insoluble in cold water and thus may be ground and distributed in the emulsion. However, other insoluble or sparingly soluble toxic substances such as Paris green, London purple, or barium carbonate may be used.

The emulsifying agent or stabilizer to be employed in preparing the insecticide should be capable of producing a slow breah'ng emulsion so that the insecticide may be suitable for cold mixing work, i. e., of such character as to be readily mixed with dirt, sand or other aggregate without breaking and thus give a satisfactory distribution of asphalt through the ag gate. I have found clay to give the best results, although other stabilizers may work equally as well.

In employing the clay, care should be exercised to determine its acidity or alkalinity, it being preferable to add the clay in as neutral condition as possible. Therefore, some clays which are naturally alkaline. require neutralization by acid, others by alkali and still others; such as some bentonites, are naturally neutral and may be used as mined. The latter type of clays are preferred.

In choosing the stabilizing agent, care should be used not toemploy substances which will react with the insoluble toxic compound to form soluble poisons. Stabilizers of the soap type are not to be employed since these react with the insoluble toxic compounds and form soluble poisons and, as was previously mentioned, the poisons will readily leach through the ground and gradually lose their effectiveness. This is particularly true in the case of arsenic trioxide which is converted in part at least into soluble sodium arsenite when a sodium soap is used as the emulsifier. The preparation of the emulsion may be effected by distributing the finely powdered arsenic trioxide in melted asphalt and subsequently emulsifying the arsenized asphalt with a slurry composed of clay and water by known methods. If desired, the insoluble tomc compound may be added directly to the clay slurry before effecting emulsification, .although it could also be added in the form of a paste in water to the emulsion of asphalt, water and clay. However, in order to secure the best results, it is preferred to distribute the finely divided poison in asphalt and theneffeet the emulsification. By such procedure I have succeeded in incorporating into the emulsion as much as 15% to 40% of arsenic trioxide, based on the asphalt content.

As a specific example by way of illustration and without any intention to limit my invention, 1 have succeeded in producing a satisfactory emulsion in the following manner:

Approximately pounds of asphalt having a penetration of 105 at 77 F. and a softening point of approximately F. were melted and approximately 10 pounds of finely powdered arsenic trioxide, but not in coloidal form, were mixed in the melted asphalt until uniformly distributed throughout the asphalt. The admixture was carried out at a temperature ranging from 200 to 300 F. This mixing should be carried out at the lowest possible temperature in order to minimize the tendency for the arsenic trioxide to settle out prior to emulsification. A neutral clay slurry was then prepared by suspending approximately 4-pounds of clay, such as bentonite, in 21 pounds of water. While I prefer to employ neutral clay, it is obvious that other types of clayhaving a neutral alkalinity or acidity may be used. These may be neutralized by addition of acid or alkali, depending upon the particular clay employed to control the pH value of the emulsion to give the required stability.

The clay slurry was then placed in an emulsification kettle of the vertical cylindrical type and equipped with a propeller and draft tube and with a jacket sin-rounding the kettle. The slurry was agitated continuously while the arsenized asphalt was added slowly. The emulsification was carried out at 90 to 96 F. at which temperature the emulsification semed to proceed most smoothly. The emulsification proceeds most satisfactorily near, or a little below, the Ball and Ring softening point of the asphalt. Proper temperature control may be obtained by circulating cold water, as necessary, through the jacket surrounding the emulsification kettle. From time to time as the emulsification proceeded, more clay slurry was added, as required, to maintain the proper pasty consistency in the emulsifier and the emulsion was drawn off from time to time to maintain the proper working level in the kettle.

The final product obtained by the foregoing process is a composition based on percent by weight of 4.9% arsenic trioxide, 43.9% asphalt, 43.4% water and 7.8% clay. It has a reddish brown color and has a consistency similar to apple butter. It can be diluted in all proportions with water and can be mixed with earth or sand without difiiculty from premature breaking.

While the above proportions of ingredients may be used to produce a satisfactory emulsion, it will be understood that these amounts may vary within wide limits. For example, the asphalt content of the emulsion may vary between approximately 15% and 60%. The amount of arsenic trioxide, of course, is dependent upon the effectivenem desired and for ordinary practical purposes, this amount may vary between approximately 1% and 20% of the total emulsion, although as much as 40% based on the asphalt content may be incorporated into the emulsion. The clay content will depend upon the nature of In the application of the poison asphalt emul sion, the mixture is applied to the ground under the structure in sufficient quantity to serve as a binder for the top layer of earth to a distance of say an inch. The top layer of earth is scarified.

then mixed with the poisonous emulsion and finally rolled. If it is necessary to obtain the desired penetration of emulsion into the earth, several applications of the emulsion may be made with intermediate scarification and final rolling. Within a few hours of its application to the ground, the emulsion loses its water content, thus setting up a continuous film of asphalt in which is enclosed the clay and the arsenic trioxide. This will form a coherent layer of poisoned earth through which the termites or other pests would have difliculty in penetrating.

While the use of the poisoned asphalt emulsion has been particularly described in connection with its application to the earth under the structure, it will be observed that the same is well adapted to coating the exposed understructure for which hot asphaltic composition would not be as convenient. While no penetration into the wood itself is to be expected, the coating of asphalt emulsion has the great advantage of cheapness and a high poison content.

The present invention has been particularly described as an insecticide for'combating the subterranean type of termite and as a method for producing said insecticide. However, it should be observed that the invention is not specifically limited to this use only. The insecticide may well be adapted for exterminating other insects, rats, gophers, moles and fungus growths and the same, instead of being applied to the earth, may be employed in other known manners.

The above disclosure is to be taken merely as illustrative of a preferred embodiment of my inventionand is not to be considered limiting, since many variations thereof may be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim: H

1. An insecticide comprising an emulsion of asphalt, water, a substantially water insoluble toxic. compound and an emulsifier, said insecticide being adapted to prevent termite infestation and said emulsion when broken forming a coherent mass or layer of asphalt and toxic compound which cannot be readily washed away by rains emulsion when broken nor leached through the ground by soilmoisture.

2. An insecticide comprising a slow breaking emulsion of asphalt, water, a substantially water insoluble toxic agent and clay in substantially neutral condition, said insecticide being adapted to prevent termite infestation and said emulsion when broken forming a coherent mass or layer of asphalt and toxic compound which cannot'be readily washed away 'by rains nor leached through the ground by soil moisture.

3. An insecticide comprising an emulsion of asphalt, water, arsenic trioxide and clay in substantially neutral condition, said insecticide being adapted to prevent termite infestation and said forming a coherent mass or layer of asphalt and toxic compound which cannot be readily washed away by rains nor leached through the ground by soil moisture.

4. An insecticide comprising an emulsion of approximately between 15% and by weight of asphalt, between 2% and 15% by weight of clay, between 35% and by weight of water and between 1% and 20% by weight of arsenic trioxide, said insecticide being adapted to prevent termite infestation and said emulsion when broken forming a coherent mass or layer of asphalt and toxic compound which cannot be readily washed away by rains nor leached through the ground by soil moisture.

5. An insecticide adapted to prevent termite infestation comprising an emulsion of approximately 44% by weight asphalt, 8% by weight clay, 43% by weight water and 5% by weight arsenic trioxide.

6. A process for producing an insecticide which comprises mixing finely divided water insoluble toxic compound in asphalt at a temperature above the melting point of said asphalt and emulsifying said mixture at a temperature approximating the ball and ring softening point of said asphalt with a slurry of emulsifying agent and water.

7. A process for producing an insecticide which comprises mixing finely divided water insoluble toxic compound in asphalt at a temperature above the melting point of said asphalt and emulsifying said mixture at a temperature approximating the ball and ring softening point of said asphalt with a slurry of clay and water.

8. A process for producing an insecticide which comprises mixing finely divided water insoluble toxic compound in asphalt of approximately 105 penetration and a melting point of F. at a temperature ranging from 200 to 300 F. and emulsifying said mixture at a temperature below 100 F. with a slurry of clay and water.

DAVID R. MERRILL. 

